Giants' Mathias Kiwanuka watches mates pile up 10 sacks

John O'Boyle/The Star-LedgerMathias Kiwanuka, who missed Sunday's game with a bulging disc in his neck, says he hopes to play next weekend.

Mathias Kiwanuka was forced to stand and watch while the Giants defense racked up 10 sacks and while Osi Umenyiora registered three of them to pull even with him for the team lead with four sacks.

Kiwanuka claims he didn’t mind being a spectator for a show in which he could have played a leading role.

“To be honest with you, it made it a little easier the guys came out to win and the defense was playing so hard,” the fifth-year defensive end, who was ruled out on Friday with a bulging disc in his neck, said after the team’s 17-3 victory over the Bears last night. “You would think it’d be the opposite. But the fact we’re still alive in the division and have great playoff aspirations makes me want to come back healthy and get a good Super Bowl push.”

Kiwanuka will go for a second opinion on his neck Monday. There has been no timetable given for his return, but he’s hopeful he could return as soon as next week against the Texans, though that seems unlikely.

“It’s a possibility,” he said. “Anything’s possible and I’m trying to stay optimistic.”

Kiwanuka underwent an MRI on Thursday that revealed the bulging cervical disc but was allowed to practice the following day. A CT scan the following day revealed an issue that caused the Giants to pull Kiwanuka from the game against Chicago. He declined to discuss the specifics of the injury.

Kiwanuka doesn’t know exactly when the injury occurred. He claims he didn’t have “major” symptoms after the loss to the Titans last week but did have some stiffness.

Retired linebacker Antonio Pierce had a bulging disc in his neck last season doctors hoped would subside. When it didn’t, Pierce was placed on injured reserve. Kiwanuka said his issue is similar to Pierce’s, but he said there’s a “subtle” difference that makes his situation less serious.

"I talked to Antonio and I talked to a lot of other guys," Kiwanuka said. "The thing with these injuries is a lot of the guys around the league have them and, in my opinion, just like the concussion talk is bigger now, spine talk will be a lot bigger in the future."

An NBC report indicated Kiwanuka couldn't move his neck Sunday night. But he was nodding and turning his head both during the game and afterward.

"You wake up in the morning and your neck is a little stiff, but I feel a lot of people are like that," Kiwanuka said. "It’s not something that I think will keep me out for a long time. ... As the day goes on, it gets looser."

• FB Madison Hedgecock left the game with a hamstring injury. When asked after the game how he felt, Hedgecock didn’t reply but his bad limp said it all. Hedgecock was walking very gingerly and appeared to be in significant pain.

After he left the game, TE Bear Pascoe took reps in his spot.

• P Matt Dodge was booed after a rough first half that included a dropped ball as he approached his first punt to Bears returner Devin Hester.

“I was so focused on kicking it there and don’t let him catch it,” Dodge said, “that you forget yourself to catch it.”